As February is the month when Estonia celebrates its Independence Day, ARTSCAPE invites to get to know contemporary art, jazz and cinema from this Baltic neighbor. It’s capital Tallinn will become the European Capital of Culture in 2011.

Gallery VARTAI presents an exhibition “Beauties of Suburbia“ with Estonians artists Kaido Ole and Marko Mӓetamm joined by a Lithuanian Eglė Ridikaitė. Contemporary creators do not set a mission for themselves to solve the problems of the humankind, illuminate us so as to reach the "higher realm". It is rather the opposite: they impertinently confront us with the routine existence condensing the colours and infusing it with absurd, violence or irony. Kaido Ole in his works shows his own helplessness while trying to make the “right” decision and discloses the illusion of “free choice”. Works of Marko Maetamm try to solve his personal problems, so familiar to everyone. Filled with black humor they transform everyday situations into paranoic nightmares: child‘s bed becomes an instrument of torture and naive cartoon – a horror movie. These two artists together represented their country in the 50th Venice Biennale and Marko Maetamm represented Estonia in the last 52nd Venice Biennale. In her stencils-like canvas Eglė Ridikaitė converts „uniform beauties“ of the block-of flats into meaningless patterns that were “admired“ by almost every inhabitant of the Soviet suburbias.